Vertically adjustable horizontal lineal marking device



I. L. MEEDS May 17, 1960 VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE HORIZONTAL LINEAL MARKING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 12, 1958 IRVING L. MEEDS INVENTOR.

Afr-V May 17, 1960 1. 1.. MEEDS 2,936,470

VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE HORIZONTAL LINEAL MARKING DEVICE Filed June 12. 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 \RVING L. MEEDS INVENTOR.

lJnit ed States Patent VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE HORIZONTAL LINEAL MARKING DEVICE Irving L. Meeds, Portland, Greg.

. Application June 12, 1958, Serial No. 741,530

4 Claims. (Cl. 15--1'31.05)

This invention relates generally to marking devices and more particularly to a device especially useful for applying continuous or interrupted .horizontal lines to curbstones along streets and roadways under construction to indicate to a construction crew the height to which each of the various layers of road material is to extend in progressively building up a roadway. The material usually consists of a base layer of base rock laid upon the graded earth and extending from curb to curb, a second layer of fines or road mix, and finally a finish layer of blacktop or the like whose thickness is specified by the city, county or state for whom or within which the roadway is being built.

Hereto-fore such marking of curbstones was done in a slow, timeconsuming, and not entirely accurate, manner by aworkman going along the curb in a stooped position and hand-marking the curbstone with colored chalk.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of my invention to provide a marking device of the character described which is of simple, durable, lightweight construction, easily impelled and stabilized in motion in either direction along a curbstone by an operator walking in a natural posture, and one which is positive and accurate in operation, readily adjustable vertically for marking at various levels, adjustable into self-accommodating engagement with vertical or angular curb facings, and well adapted for the purpose for which it is intended.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details ofconstruction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, and in which:

. Figures 1, 2 and 3 are, respectively, front, top and side views of a marking device made in accordance with my invention operatively applied to a curbstone and with fragments broken away for convenience of illustration.

Figures 4 and 5 are, respectively, front and side fragmentary detail views of an actuating arm and a rotatable handgrip associated therewith.

. Figures 6 and 7 are, respectively, front and side views of a modified form of the invention.

Figure 8 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale'taken approximately along the line 88 of Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary side view of an ink reservoir and supporting means therefor and a :felt applicator, with fragments broken away.

Figure 10 is a sectional top plan view taken approximately along the line 1010 of Figure 9.

Figures 11 and 12 are, respectively, side and top plan views of a modification of the carriage shown in Figures 6 and 7; and

.Figure 13 is a top plan view of a modification of the carriage shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

.' With continuing reference to the drawings, and in which like reference numerals designate like parts, reference numeral 1 in Figures 1 to 3 indicates generally m V C a carriage comprising a horizontal main body 2 recessed inwardly as at 3 from its front edge and having a vertical flange divided by the recess into two parts 4 and 5. The carriage is provided with two pairs of vertically dis-. posed supporting wheels 6 and 7 and the flange parts 4 and 5 are provided with horizontally disposed wheels 8 and 9 adapted for rolling contact with the front face 10 of a curbstone 11 while the carriage travels along the top 11A thereof by means of its supporting wheels 6 and 7.

Vertically slidable and lockable relative to the carriage 1, by means, respectively, of brackets 12 secured to the flange parts 4 and 5 and thumb-screws 13, is a plate 14 extended outwardly through its center section (Figure 2) to provide operative space for a rotary marking device indicated generally at 15. The marking device comprises an ink reservoir in the form of a cylinder 16 provided with a filler opening 17 in its closed top end 18 and provided with an annular flange 19 at its bottom end 20. Cooperating with the flange 19 in removably securing an annular inking pad 21, made of felt, mohair or the like, to the bottom of the cylinder is a disc 22 provided with a central aperture '23 through which a bolt 24 extends for threaded engagement with a cross bar 25 secured to the interior of the cylinder at the bottom end thereof. The marking device is rotatably mounted to the outer end of a pair of horizontal arms 27 and 28, by means of a stud 29 extending upwardly from the top 18 of the cylinder and a companion stud 30 provided by extending the bolt 24 downwardly. The inner ends of the arms are provided with squared openings 31 and swingably attached, by means of a removable bolt 32, to a pair of horizontal brackets 33 welded or otherwise secured to the inner surface of the extended central portion of the plate 14. Bythis arrangement the inking pad 21 is swingable into and out of rolling contact with the face 10 of the curbstone. To insure equal swinging movement of both arms the top and bottom ends of the bolt 32 are squared as at 34 for engagement with the corresponding opening in the arms.

For convenience in impelling the carriage in either direction along a curbstone, I provide a hollow tubular handle 35 piovtally attached at its horizontal bottom end portion 36 to the plate 14 by insertion into a collar 37 secured to the'plate. The collar is provided with an arcuate slot 38 through which extends a bolt 39 attached to the end 36 of the handle. The ends of the slot serve as limit stops for swinging movement of the handle to the right or to the left when impelling the carriage in corresponding directions.

When the carriage 1 is reposing on the curbstone as aforesaid, the marking device, and hence the inking pad 21, is normally held out of contact with the face 10 of the curbstone by a tension spring 40 whose one end is secured as at 41 to the plate 14 and whose opposite end is secured to the bottom cylinder-supporting arm 28.

For selectively pulling the inking pad into operative rolling and marking contact with the face of the curbstone against the influence of the spring 40, I provide a control cable or wire 45 secured at its bottom end to the bottom arm 28 and extending through a flexible housing 46 which is secured at its bottom end to the plate 14 and extends upwardly therefrom through the hollow handle 35. The housing and cable emerge from the handle as at 47 and the top end of the cable is secured to a hand lever 48 which is pivotally attached as at 5i) to a ring 51 secured to a shaft 52 welded or otherwise secured to the handle. To this shaft is attached a handgrip 53 matching a companion handle 54 secured to the top end of the handle by its shaft 55.

With the carriage moving along and against the curbstone as shown, it will be apparent from the foregoing that the marking device can be conveniently swung from one to the other of the two positions above described by merely gripping or releasing the hand lever 48 by one hand of the operator.

The modified means shown in Figures 4 and 5 for manipulating the marking device comprises a handgrip 53A rotatable on a shaft 52A secured in any approved manner to the handle 35A. Secured to the inner end of the handgrip and rotatable therewith is a ring 61 provided with an arm 62 to whose outer end is secured the top end of the control wire or cable 45A. Rotating the handgrip in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 4 will causethe control cable to pull the cylinder 16 into the full line position shown in Figure 2 with the inking pad in rolling marking contact with the face of the curb and upon releasing the handgrip the spring 40 will return the cylinder and inking pad into the inoperative position shown in broken lines.

7 When in motion along the curbstone, the carriage is held to a straight course and stabilized against tilting by the two pairs of supporting Wheels 6 and 7, the horizontally disposed wheels 8 and 9 and also by another pair of horizontally disposed wheels 65 carried by the plae 14 at the bottom corners thereof.

For convenience in adjusting the plate 14, into predetermined positions to accurately apply the markings 70 and 71 to the face of the curbstone for the purposes above pointed out, I provide the front surface of the plate 14 with a vertical scale (Figure I) graduated in inchesfor example, from 1 to 9 as shown, or from 1 to any desired number, according to the height of the plate. As shown, the plate 14 is set at the 6-inch mark, which means that the inking pad 21 is positioned at 6 inches below the top of the curbstone to apply the mark 71 along the face of the curbstone. By retracting and resetting the thumb-screws 13 the plate can be conveniently raised or lowered and locked in any adjusted position to apply other marks at various levels.

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and 8 the carriage top 2A is not recessed and is provided with a vertical flange 2B extending throughout its length. The carriage is provided with two pairs of vertically disposed supporting wheels 6A and 7A and the flange with horizontally disposed Wheels 8A and 9A. A vertical plate 14A also provided with horizontally disposed wheels 75 and a scale graduated in inches as shown is slidably mounted on the flange 2B by means of brackets 12A and lockable thereto in various adjusted positions by means of a thumb-screw 76 extending through a slot 77 and into the plate.

The modified marking device comprises a piece of chalk 80 carried by a cylinder 81 and backed by a compression spring 82. The cylinder is secured to and extends through the plate 14A near the bottom edge thereof. A vertical detent 83' extends into the cylinder near its open end and is actuated into chalk-engaging position by one leg 85 of a bellcrank whose other leg 86 is springnrged as at 87 away from the place and connected to the bottom end of a control cable or wire 88. The bellcrank is pivotally attached to an arm 89 secured to and extending outwardly from the plate 14A. The control cable and its housing 90 extend upwardly within the hollow tubular handle 35A and emerge therefrom as at 91. The top end of the'ca-ble is connected to a hand lever 92 which is pivotally attached as at 93 to a ring 94, surrounding, the inner end of a shaft 95 to which is attached a handgrip 96 matching a second handgrip 97 secured'by its shaft, 96 to the top end of the handle 35A. The handle is attached to. the plate 14A in either of two positions and in the same manner of attachment as that ofthe handle 35 to the plate 14 in Figure 1 by the provision of two collars 37A and 37B for impelling the carriage respectvely to the right or to the left as viewed in F u e- 4 From the foregoing it will be apparent that when the hand lever 92 is gripped or held in the full line position shown, the resultant pull onthe leg 86 of the bellcrank will relieve the pressure on the detent 83 and thus allow the chalk to be moved outwardly by the spring 82 and held thereby in marking contact with the face 10A of the curbstone as the carriage moves along the, top of the curbstone.

Some curbstone facings are vertical as shown in full lines and others are inclined downwardly and outwardly to various degrees, one possible extreme of which is indicated by the broken line F in Figure 1 1. To render the modified carriage 2A self-accommodating to these various angularities I divide its horizontal top portion into two parts 100 and 101 hinged together by means of cooperating lugs 102 and 103 carried by the parts, and screws 104 extending through the lugs 102 and threaded into the lugs 103. The part 101 is bent downwardly as shown to provide the flange portion 2C provided with horizontally disposed wheels 8B9B. The underside of the top portion 2A of the carriage is provided with two pairs of vertically disposed supporting wheels 6B. Advancing the screws on their threads will interlock both parts in any adjusted position relative to each other and to the curbstone facings;

The top portion of the body 2D of the carriage in Figure 13 is divided into three parts 108, 109 and 110. The second and third parts are provided with horizontally disposed Wheels as in Figure 3 and the underside of the first part or top portion is provided with vertically disposed supporting wheels also as in Figure 3. The three parts are hingedly interconnected by two pairs of lugs 111 carried by the part 108 cooperating with companion lugs 112 carried by the parts 109 and 110. Two bolts 113 and 114 extend through the lugs and are provided with wing nuts 115 which when advanced on the threads of the bolts'will look their respective lugs into secure engagement with each other and thus hold the parts 109-110 and their wheels in any adjusted position corresponding to the inclination of the curbstone facing.

While I have shown particular forms of embodiment of my invention I am aware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A marking device comprising a carriage, said carriage comprising a horizontal top portion provided with supporting wheels adapted for rolling contact with the top surface of a curbstone and a flange portion hingedly attached to the top portion and provided with horizontally disposed wheels for rolling contact with the front face of a curbstone, cooperating locking means carried by said top portion and by said flange portion for locking the flange portion in angular relation to the top portion, a marker yieldingly, vertically and horizontally adjustably attached to said flange portion, and manually operable means carried by the carriage and connected to the marker for moving the marker horizontally into and out of contact with the front face of a curbstone.

' 2. A marking device comprising a carriage, said carriage comprising a horizontal top portion provided with supporting wheels adapted for rolling con-tact with the top surface of a curbstone and a flange portion hingedly attached to the top portion and provided with horizontally disposed wheels for rolling contact with the front face ofacurbstone, cooperating locking means carried by said top portion and by said flange portion for locking the flange portion in angular relation to the top portion, a marker yieldingly, vertically and horizontally adjustably attached to said flange portion, means carried by the carriage and connected to the marker for moving the marker horizontally into contact with the front face of a curbstone.

3. A marking device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said marker comprises a horizontally disposed marking element yieldingly attached to a vertical plate for lateral movement relative thereto, and means carried by the carriage and selectively engageable with the plate and adapted to lock the plate in vertically adjusted positions relative to the carriage.

4. A marking device as claimed in claim 2 wherein said marking element comprises a cylinder adapted to contain a marking fluid, an absorbent member attached to the cylinder and adapted to partake of the marking 10 fluid, a vertical plate, means carried by the carriage and selectively engageable with the plate and adapted to lock the plate in vertically adjusted positions relative to the carriage, laterally disposed means swingably attached to the plate and supporting said cylinder, and manually operable means connected to said cylinder supporting means and adapted to move the cylinder and hence said absorbent member into and out of rolling contact with one face of a curbstone.

References Cited in the file of this: patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 987,879 Horrabin Mar. 28, 1911 2,566,624 Myers Sept. 4, 1951 2,660,791 Howell Dec. 1, 1953 

